EU's Middle East failure Leaders castigated for feeble response

In 1980 when Leonid Brezhnev ruled the Soviet Union and Donald Trump was a property developer, the nine leaders of the then European Community made their first major foray into joint diplomacy. The cause: the Middle East, including a Palestinian state.

- Jennifer Rankin

"The time has come to promote the recognition and implementation of two principles universally accepted by the international community: the right to existence and to security of all states in the region, including Israel... [and] recognition of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people," states the Venice declaration calling for Palestinian self-determination.

More than 45 years and many hand-wringing declarations later, the EU has been castigated for its inability to play a role in bringing peace to the Middle East or even respond to one of the world's most glaring humanitarian crises.

Europe's response to Gaza has been a failure, Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, told the Guardian this week. Striking a similar note, Slovenia's president, Nataša Pirc Musar, described Israel's policy as "genocidal" and questioned how some politicians, including in EU countries, could tolerate displacement, destruction of homes, and acute shortages of essentials for people in Gaza.

And, in an exceptional rebuke, 209 former EU ambassadors and diplomatic staff wrote to EU leaders last month to voice "profound disappointment" that no substantive measures had been taken by the bloc to pressure Israel to end its brutal war on Gaza.

As European leaders face pressure to act, this month's UN general assembly may be another moment that showcases Europe's divisions over Israel, including the question of Palestinian recognition.

France, the UK, Canada and Australia have signalled their intention to recognise Palestine at the general assembly, in a powerful symbolic move from three G7 countries and two UN permanent security council members.